What are children who live in poverty, in substandard housing,
and in unsafe neighborhoods to believe of a society that claims to
revere the family and to hold family values superior to all other
values? How does temporary housing affect children?

Children who live in a transitional state know no structure, no
order, no predictability; they know only chaos.
1 For a child who
looks to the adults in her life for security, the sight of her mother or
father losing control over life's basic needs can damage her development of trust and sense of security. Many factors can influence
the impact of such a transitional state, including the length of time
in which the family is without a home, the availability of a support
system for the family, and the child's age, sex, and temperament.
Even so, the child is influenced by the emotional and physical environment of the available temporary housing.
2

Loss of home is not the only event that affects a child's sense of
security. The process of poverty begins with one or a combination
of crises, including separation, divorce, or death of a parent or
caretaker, the head of household's loss of employment, declining
household income, loss of extended-kin support system, and/or
increased family conflict. Any of these factors can affect a child

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